The Hungarian Invasion of Ukraine was a conflict sparked in 1976 by Hungarian attempt to gain more land and power. After succesfully inscenating a political conflict between Ukraine and Poland, the Ukrainian closest ally, Hungary invaded Ukrainian grounds from two directions. The invading forces were defeated by Poles who hurried to help when Ukraine could not muster enough forces to defend itself. A small contingent of Brazilian troops reinforcing the defenses in Odessa also played their role in the war, despite not seeing any action. These events ended in Ukraine becoming a federative territory of Poland in exchange for their protection.
The beginning[]
In June 1976, Poland and Ukraine were to have their first joint military training in their history. However, Hungary managed to learn about the training and decided to use it to their benefit.
On the 16th, a day before the training was scheduled to begin, two Hungrarian spies stole Ukrainian Mig-23's and flew them to Poland. The Polish were under the impression the spies sent for the training and launched a squadron of their own Mig-23's to guide them to their airfield. Meanwhile, Ukrainians sent their Mig-29 aircraft to take the Hungarian spies down, however they were too late to catch the Hungarians before they met the Polish squadron. The sudden arrival of more Ukrainian jets confused the Polish and in the ensuing chaos a dogfight has been sparked. The older Polish jets suffered a crushing defeat, with several shot down and more damaged. No Ukrainian planes were damaged and both Hungarian spies survived.
The Polish-Ukrainian relations cooled down significantly after this incident. The Poles were suspecting the Ukrainians of preparing to invade Poland, judging by fake plans delivered by the Hungarian spies. Ukraine denied any such claims, but to no effect.
At that time the Hungarians finally declared war and launched their troops onto the Ukrainian soil.
Turning the tide[]
Ukraine became aware of the Hungarian power when it suffered series of crushing defeats when defending the borders and nearby cities. Realizing they had little chance to resist the invasion, the Ukrainians retreated to major cities and asked for help.
Surprisingly, the first to respond were the Polish, who were willing to put their conflict aside for the duration of the war with Hungary. Many Polish armored divisions were sent to deal with the Hungarian threat. However, they were slowed down by Ukrainian citizens mistaking their advance with an invasion. The only other country to respond was Brazil, wich has sent it's troops to help with the defense. However, their distant position delayed their appearance until late in the war.
The Hungarian forces were dividid to two main branches, a northern one heading for Lviv and later Kyiv and a southern one aiming for Odessa and Crimea. The southern forces did not get very far due to logistical problems, but the northern branch managed to advance very deep into the Ukrainian territory. In a few days, the forces would have been able to reach and capture Lviv, forcing the Polish to act quickly. In a series of aerial and artillery strikes the Hungarian forces near advancing to Lviv were decimated and forced to retreat.
The Bloody Nights[]
The retreating Hungarians left a strong garrison in the border city Uzhorod, hoping to have a place where the regrouped and reinforced units could return. The Polish had recognized their intentions, but instead of storming the city they have encircled it to prevent the Hungarians to return and meet with the city garrison.
A strong force consisting mostly of Leopard 1 tanks and Gepard AA vehicles advanced with the goal of finally crushing the Polish forces to allow themselves to advance on Lviv undisturbed. The force attacked the dug in Polish units in the night of 7th July. The battle took two hours and was ended by Hungrarian retreat after suffering heavy casualties. The Polish had losses too, but their fortifications gave them a good advantage over their foes.
Following this, the Polish grew reckless and overconfident, thinking the Hungarian onslaught has been already beaten back. However, a second battle commenced on the night of 9th July when a previously unspotted large force of Hungarian infantry attacked the Polish right flank guarded by the 2nd Motorised division consisting of 96 BMP-1 transporters and 800 soldiers. The Hungarians took the Poles by surprise and chaos into their ranks, allowing them to destroy almost all the APCs of the division and pin the soldiers down until dawn came and allowed Polish helicopters to strike the Hungarians from behind.
In total the Polish lost almost 1000 men and 150 vehicles, making for an absolute majority of the whole war. This led to the battles earning the name 'The Bloody Nights'.
Resolution[]
Getting the word of their defeat at Uzhorod and Brazilian reinforcements arriving to Odessa, Hungary retreated and capitulated. The Ukrainian citizens were disillusioned by the unability of the country to defend itself and started rioting, demanding a total change of goverment, with many even starting to plan a coup. To prevent the country going into a civil war, the goverment announced a public referendum pertaining joining Poland as a federative territory. The referendum ended in Poland's favour and that day Ukraine joined Poland.